1 Samuel 2
1 Then Hannah prayed, saying, “I rejoice in [what] you, [, have done]. I am strong [MET] because I belong to you. I (laugh at/ridicule) my enemies, because you, Yahweh have rescued me [from being taunted by them].
“My heart exults in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies. For I have rejoiced in your salvation.
2 There is no one who is holy like you, Yahweh. There is no other god like you. There is no one like you, our God, who can protect us [as though you were putting us beneath] a huge rock [where we can hide from danger].
Nothing is holy as the Lord is holy. For there is no other beside you. And nothing is strong as our God is strong.
3 [You people who oppose God], stop boasting! Yahweh is a God who knows [everything], and he will evaluate/judge everyone’s actions. So don’t speak so arrogantly!
Do not continue speaking of great things, boasting. Let what is old depart from your mouth. For the Lord is the God of knowledge, and thoughts are prepared for him.
4 Yahweh, you break the bows/weapons of mighty soldiers, and you give strength to those who stumble [because of being weak].
The bow of the powerful has been overwhelmed, and the weak have been girded with strength.
5 Many people who previously had plenty to eat, now have to work for other people [to earn money] to buy food, but many who were always hungry are not hungry any more. The woman who did not have any children before, now has given birth to many/seven children, and the woman who had many children before, now is very lonely [because they have all died].
Those who before were filled, have hired themselves out for bread. And the starving have been filled, so that the barren have given birth to many. But she who had borne many sons has become unable.
6 Yahweh, you cause some people to die, and you restore some people who are almost dead. For some people, [it seems that they will soon] go to where the dead people are, but you cause them to become healthy again. (Sheol h7585)
The Lord brings death, and he gives life. He leads away to death, and he brings back again. (Sheol h7585)
7 Yahweh, you cause some people to be poor and you cause some people to be rich, you humble some people and you honor some people.
The Lord impoverishes, and he enriches. He humbles, and he lifts up.
8 [Sometimes] you lift poor people up so that they are no longer [despondent, sitting in the dust, ] or sitting on heaps of ashes; you cause them to sit next to princes; you cause them to sit on chairs/thrones where people who are highly honored sit. Yahweh, you are the one who laid the foundations of the earth, and you have set the whole world on those foundations.
He raises up the indigent from the dust, and he lifts up the poor from filth, so that they may sit with princes, and take hold of a throne of glory. For the hinges of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the globe upon them.
9 You will protect your loyal/faithful people [SYN], but you will cause the wicked to die [EUP] and descend to the dark [place where dead people are]. We do not defeat [our enemies] by our own strength;
He will preserve the feet of his holy ones, and the impious will be silenced in darkness. For no man will prevail by his own strength.
10 Yahweh, you will break into pieces those who oppose you. You will cause thunder in the sky to show that you (oppose/are angry with) them. Yahweh, you will judge [people everywhere, even those who live in] the most remote places on the earth. You will give strength to the king whom you will appoint, and give him great power [over his enemies].”
The adversaries of the Lord will dread him. And over them, he will thunder in the heavens. The Lord will judge the parts of the earth, and he will give dominion to his king, and he will lift up the horn of his Christ.”
11 Then Elkanah [and his family] returned to Ramah, but Samuel, the little boy, stayed to help Eli the priest serve Yahweh.
And Elkanah went away to Ramah, to his house. But the boy was a minister in the sight of the Lord, before the face of Eli, the priest.
12 Eli’s two [, who were also priests, ] were very wicked. They did not revere (OR, respect/obey) Yahweh.
But the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, not knowing the Lord,
13 While the people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices [in the huge pot at the temple], one of Eli’s sons, [would send his servant to come with a large three-pronged fork in his hand].
nor the priestly office for the people. And so, no matter who had immolated a victim, the servant of the priest would arrive, while the flesh was still cooking, and he would take a three-pronged hook in his hand,
14 [He] would stick the fork into [the meat in] the pot, and whatever meat fastened onto the fork, he would take [and give it] to the priest who sent him. Eli’s sons did this to all the Israeli people who came to Shiloh [to offer sacrifices].
and put it into the vessel, or into the cauldron, or into the cooking pot, or into the pan, and all that the hook lifted up, the priest took for himself. So they did to all of Israel who arrived at Shiloh.
15 Furthermore, before the fat [on the meat] was [cut off and] and burned [as a sacrifice to Yahweh], the servant of the priest would [sometimes] come to the man who was making the sacrifice and say to him, “Give me some meat [now to take] to the priest for him to roast! He wants raw meat; he does not want boiled meat.”
In addition, before they burned the fat, the servant of the priest would arrive, and he would say to the one who was immolating: “Give me the flesh, so that I may boil it for the priest. For I will not accept cooked meat from you, but raw.”
16 If the man said to the servant, “Let the priests [cut off and] burn the fat first; then you can take what you want,” the servant would reply, “No, give it to me now; if you do not give it to me, I will take it forcefully!”
And the one who was immolating would say to him, “First, allow the fat to be burned today, according to custom, and then take for yourself whatever your soul desires.” But in response, he would say to him: “By no means. For you will give it to me now, otherwise I will take it by force.”
17 Yahweh considered that the young [sons of Eli] were committing a very great sin, because they were treating very disrespectfully the offerings that were being given to Yahweh.
Therefore, the sin of the servants was exceedingly great before the Lord. For they drew men away from the sacrifice of the Lord.
18 As for Samuel, who was still a very young boy, he continued to do work for Yahweh, wearing a little sacred linen vest [like the Supreme Priest wore].
But Samuel was ministering before the face of the Lord; he was a youth girded with a linen ephod.
19 Each year his mother made a [new] little robe for him and took it to him when she went up [to Shiloh] with her husband to offer a sacrifice.
And his mother fashioned a little tunic for him, which she brought to him on the appointed days, ascending with her husband, so that he might immolate the solemn sacrifice.
20 Then Eli would [ask God to] bless Elkanah and his wife, and he would say to Elkanah, “I hope/desire that Yahweh will enable your wife to give birth to other children, to take the place of the one whom she dedicated to Yahweh.” Then Elkanah and his family would return home.
And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife. And he said to him, “May the Lord repay to you offspring from this woman, on behalf of the loan that you offered to the Lord.” And they went away to their own place.
21 And Yahweh was very kind to Hannah, and enabled her to give birth to three [other] sons and two daughters. Their son Samuel grew up while he was doing work for Yahweh [in the Sacred Tent].
Then the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the youth Samuel was magnified with the Lord.
22 Eli became very old. He often heard about all the [evil] things that his sons were doing to the Israeli people. He heard that they [sometimes] (slept with/had sex with) the women who worked at the entrance to the tent where [God] spoke to [his people].
Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all of Israel, and how they were sleeping with the women who were waiting at the door of the tabernacle.
23 He said to them, “(It is terrible that you do such things!/Why do you do such things?) [RHQ] Many people keep telling me about the evil things that you do.
And he said to them: “Why are you doing these kinds of things, very wicked things, that I have heard from all the people?
24 My sons, stop it! The reports [about you] that the people who belong to Yahweh tell others are terrible [EUP]!
My sons, do not be willing. For it is no good report that I am hearing, so that you would cause the people of the Lord to transgress.
25 If one person sins against another person, God can (intercede/act as a referee) between them. But if someone sins against Yahweh, no one can [RHQ] (intercede/act as a referee) between them!” But Eli’s sons would not listen to what their father said. This was because Yahweh had decided [that someone should] them.
If a man has sinned against a man, God may be able to be appeased over him. But if a man has sinned against the Lord, who will pray for him?” But they did not listen to the voice of their father, that the Lord was willing to kill them.
26 The boy Samuel continued to grow up, and the things that he did pleased Yahweh and the people.
But the youth Samuel advanced, and grew up, and he was pleasing to the Lord, as well as to men.
27 One day, a prophet came to Eli and told him, “This is what Yahweh has told me: ‘When your ancestors were slaves of the king of Egypt, I appeared to Aaron.
Then a man of God went to Eli, and he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Was I not revealed openly to the house of your father, when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh?
28 From all the tribes of the Israeli people, I chose him [and his male descendants] to be priests for me. I appointed them to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear a sacred apron [as they worked] for me. And I declared that they could take [and eat some of the meat] that the Israeli people burned [on the altar].
And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel for myself as priest, so that he might ascend to my altar, and burn incense to me, and wear the ephod before me. And I gave to the house of your father all the sacrifices of the sons of Israel.
29 So why do you show disrespect for the sacrifices and offerings that I commanded [the people to bring] to me [RHQ]? You are honoring your sons more than you are honoring me, by allowing them to get fat from eating the best parts of all the sacrifices that the Israeli people bring to me!’
Why have you kicked away my victims and my gifts, which I instructed to be offered in the temple? And why have you given more honor to your sons than to me, so that you eat the first-fruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel?
30 “Therefore, this is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], declares: ‘I definitely promised that Aaron and his descendants would continue to serve [IDM] me forever.’ But now I declare this: ‘It will not continue like that! I will honor those who honor me, but I will despise those who despise me.
Because of this, the Lord God of Israel says: I have spoken clearly, so that your house, and the house of your father, may minister in my sight, even forever. But now the Lord says: May this be far from me. Instead, whoever will have glorified me, I will glorify him. But whoever despises me, they will be despised.
31 Listen carefully! There will soon be a time when I will cause all the strong [young men] in your family to die. The result will be that no men in your family will [live long enough to] become old men.
Behold the days are arriving, when I will cut off your arm, and the arm of the house of your father, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
32 You will be distressed and envious as you see the blessings that I will give to [the other people in] Israel. And [I repeat that] no men in your family will ever live long enough to become old men.
And you will see your rival in the temple, amid all the prosperity of Israel. And there will not be an old man in your house for all days.
33 There is one of your descendants whom I will spare, and not prevent him from serving me as a priest. But he will become blind, and then he will always be sad and grieving. But all your other descendants will die violently.
Yet truly, I will not entirely take away a man of you from my altar, but such that your eyes may fail, and your soul may melt away, and a great part of your house may die out, as it pertains to the state of men.
34 And your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will both die on the same day. And that will prove to you [that all that I have said will come true/happen].
But this will be a sign to you, which will happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on one day they both will die.
35 ‘have chosen another man to be my priest. He is one who will serve me faithfully: He will do everything I want [DOU] him to do. And I will enable him to have many descendants [IDM] who will be priests and will always serve me by helping the king whom I will choose.
And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will act in accord with my heart and my soul. And I will build a faithful house for him. And he will walk before my Christ for all days.
36 All of your descendants who remain alive will have to go to that priest and ask him to give them money and food, and they will each have to say, “Please allow me to help the other priests, in order that I may [earn some money to] buy some food.”’”
Then this will be in the future, that whoever will have remained of your house, he will approach so that he may pray on his behalf. And he will offer a coin of silver, and a twist of bread. And he will say: ‘Permit me, I beg you, one part of the priestly office, so that I may eat a mouthful of bread.’”
